Tandem Pugna
by britlitfantw
Summary: This is a story of the final battle at Hogwarts, set in the Golden Trio's seventh year at Hogwarts. The prologue is definitely G-rated, but I've rated the chapters that are to follow as PG-13, just to be safe. Characters are not OOC. Includes one origi
1. Prologue

AN: Hey guys, this is my first actual fanfic (I've done a one-shot, but it was horrible). So enjoy, and I know the prologue is horrible, but it will get better later on. The chapters will also be lengthier. Enjoy!

Hermione stood from the table, moving her head to the left and the right to try and keep it from aching. Even so, it was to no avail. It persisted, spreading from her stiff back, along her spine, and into her neck. She put away a few of the books, and picked up the one that was hers personally, slipping it into her book bag. It was very quiet in the library, no one else was there. She'd been granted special permission to be in the library when Madam Pince wasn't from Professor McGonagall, in order to further her studies and prepare.

Prepare.

Prepare for what? She, to be honest, didn't really know. So much had happened in her years at Hogwarts. Several memories went through her mind, and she smiled as they flashed through.

Defeating the troll.

Using the time-turner to free Sirius.

Meeting her boyfriend of 18 months now, Jacob Hendstrom, in Diagon Alley.

Then several other memories came back to her. Ones that weren't quite so pleasant. Hermione sighed as she remembered.

Harry emerging from the maze with the Cup, looking so worn.

Sirius going through the veil.

Dumbledore telling them that Neville and his family had been killed by Deatheaters.

Hermione wiped a stray tear from her eye as she remembered all these things. There were many other memories, many other occurrences that had had an impact on her life, her friends' lives, and even the whole of the wizarding world. As she walked out the door of the library, whispering a spell to make the lights go out, she locked the door behind her before heading through the corridors and up the stairs toward the Gryffindor common room. She told the password to the Fat Lady quietly, "Kneazle," and stepped through, careful not to trip in fatigue. She looked around the common room, smiling. She walked over to where a first year was asleep in her chair, no doubt a little exhausted from the homework at the end of the year, and took a spare blanket from under the chair. Hermione lay it over the sleeping girl gently, and picked up her book bag once more. She began to ascend the stairs toward the Girls' dormitories, when her book bag fell off her shoulder, as she ran toward the Boys' dormitories.

Someone was screaming. And she'd heard that scream before.


	2. The Dream

She ran up the stairs, opening the door to the seventh year dormitories. Hermione went over to where the raven-haired boy lay on the bed, and simply stared for a minute, in shock. Ron, Dean, and Seamus stood around Harry's bed, all in different types of pajamas, and all looking equally shaken. He was screaming, shrieking maybe, but he was still asleep. He thrashed on the bed, and then suddenly stopped, breathing deeply. Hermione looked over at Ron, and said, "How long has he been this way? Why didn't you wake him up?"

Ron looked slightly guilty, but put up a defensive face. "Come on Hermione, we were all asleep! When he started screaming, only about when you came in, we all woke up. We tried to wake him, but we couldn't get near 'im."

Hermione sighed, walking up to Harry's now-still form on the bed. She placed a hand on his shoulder, shaking it gently. "Harry," she whispered. "Come on Harry, wake up."

He sat up quickly, grabbing her wrist, his white T-shirt slightly twisted from turning in the bed. As he looked not at her, but at the wall of the dormitory, his green eyes turned from a startled, deer-caught-in-headlights look, to their normal, calm state. Harry looked over at Hermione, who was grimacing slightly at the grip he had on her wrist. He dropped it immediately, moving backward slightly, staring at her as though he were seeing something extremely odd.

"But…you..."

He seemed unable to put a complete sentence together as Hermione rubbed her wrist absent-mindedly. Ron stepped up hesitantly and said, "What happened, mate? Were you having a nightmare or something? Must've been bloody awful, the way you were screaming."

"Screaming? I screamed? Wha…" With a somewhat dazed look on his face, Harry looked down at the sheets he clenched in one hand. "I thought…well, in the dream, I guess I screamed too, I couldn't really tell. I was…oh God."

As Hermione sat down next to him on the bed, she saw his eyes tear up. She frowned: this was unusual for Harry, for him to cry. He was usually so…well, brave. Dean and Seamus went back to sit on their bed, slightly embarrassed at this unusual show from their year mate. Ron sat on the edge of his own bed, looking at Harry, his face worried. "Come on mate, you can tell us."

"I…it was…that day, in the Department of Mysteries. I saw…I saw Sirius, dying again. Going through the veil. And then…I saw different things. You," Harry said quietly, lifting his head up to look at Hermione. "You were dead. They killed you. Neville was being killed from the cruciatus curse. Ron…well, everybody who accompanied us that day, you were all being tortured, killed, and then as if that wasn't enough, I couldn't do a thing. I couldn't do a damn thing. I just…I stood there, helpless. I had to watch while that…thing…destroyed everyone."

He buried his face in his hands, but continued to commentate his dream, mumbling. "I was silent…and then Voldemort raised his wand, and I tried to grab mine, but it wasn't there, he, he used the cruciatus curse on me. Again, and again. I think that's when I screamed. I've…I've felt it before, but it felt like it was magnified, if that's even possible. And then…well, that's when you woke me up, I guess. I'm sorry I grabbed you Herm, did I hurt you?" When he looked up, his eyes were filled with such anguish and hurt that Hermione shook her head, though he had a little.

"It's alright Harry, I'm fine. I can only imagine how hard it must've been for you. I mean…to see us all being killed, and then being helpless…well, that's even worse than being killed yourself, almost. But…well, we're still here, right?"

As Harry looked back and forth at his two friends, almost asking for more assurance, Ron nodded in agreement. "That's right, mate. We're still 'ere. You're bloody stuck with us, whether you like it or not. But do you think…well, do you think You-Know-Who," Ron still refused to say his name. "Do you think he sent the dream or something? Like…do you think he's near here?"

Hermione shuddered at the thought, but looked at Harry for an answer. He looked thoughtful for a moment, and then a bit sheepish. "Well, I don't think so. I think…well, I think it was just a dream. Yes, that's all it was. Look, we've got classes tomorrow, we better get back to sleep."

As Ron shrugged, and went back under the covers of his bed, Harry looked over at Hermione. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I know you said I didn't hurt you, but you know, you're a terrible liar sometimes."

Blushing, Hermione squeezed his shoulder gently before getting off his bed. "Harry, really, it's alright. It was just a reflex. No harm…I mean, no lasting harm done," she said hastily at a reproving glance from Harry. "Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow then. G'night."

"Good night Hermione," Harry said, settling under the covers once more. As Hermione opened the door that led to the staircases, she looked back once more at the tired boys: frowning, she thought she saw Harry's hand fly away from his scar for a moment. But it was so quick, Hermione thought it was just a trick of the mind because she was so tired. Shrugging, she closed the door behind her and walked over to the Girls' Dormitories, yawning.


End file.
